Bryce Harper is close to being cleared by doctors as he continues to recover from bursitis in his left knee, an ailment that has kept him out since May 26. If all goes well over the next few days, he should be on track to make a rehab assignment and then join the Nationals in the near future.

Harper spoke at length about his recovery in a one-on-one interview with CSN’s Nats Insider Mark Zuckerman on Thursday, discussing his road back and his high profile appointment with Dr. James Andrews.

Harper said he is trying to be patient with his recovery as playing too hard and too soon helped aggravate the injury in late May. For now he is taking his rehab day by day and following his doctor’s orders as best he can.

“Knowing I can help this team out every single day I go out there on that field, it’s hard,” he said. “But we have a lot of great guys on our team, it’s a process of trying to be out there. I need to do things the right way, treat my rehab the right way and if I feel something that I don’t feel is right, then I’m not going to go back out there.”

Harper was resistant to take time off back in May, denying the pain and the fact he may actually need a stint on the disabled list. After aggravating the knee against the Phillies on May 26, he said he would tell the training staff to go away if they tried to talk to him during a game.

But now, having been out almost a month, Harper has realized what is best for him, that he needs to wait until he is 100 percent before coming back.